When you hear the name Porter Cable, thoughts of quality toolsย usually come to mind; so when we heard about the Porter Cable PC180DK-2 18V cordless drill,ย we were pretty excited to check it out. This cordless drill/driver kit comes complete with two Ni-Cad batteries, a โfastโ 60-minute charger, a carry case, and a double-ended bit. Weโve seen this kit for as low as $120 online, so itโs a compelling purchase.
Porter Cable PC180DK-2 18V Cordless Drill Features
As we began to remove the drill from its packaging, we quicklyย noticed its quality, like the gray hard-molded ABSย plastic body with black overmolded rubber grips. The tool hasย a decent heft to it that seems to conveyย a rather robust build quality. This is a tool that is ready for business. To store the tools, thereย is a plastic molded case with enough room for the drill/driver, charger, and both batteries. With a 3-year limited warranty on the tools, Porter-Cable obviously stands behind its work. Porter Cable will also maintain the PC180DK-2 18Vย cordlessย drillย andย replace any worn parts caused by normal use, FOR FREE, during the firstย year.
The overall design of theย Porter Cable PC180DK-2 18Vย cordlessย drillย is just excellent. This drillย is equipped with a high-performance motor and a 2-speed gearbox. Theย 1/2โณ all-metal single sleeve chuck design helps hold any drill bitย securely. While well-built, the chuck has 32 stops, which we found to be somewhat overkill. As we began using this drill, we noticed it had plenty ofย torque. From driving 2โณ lags to drilling 2โณ holes into PT lumber, the PC1800D drillย operated flawlessly. The feature that we really enjoyed the most was theย integrated LED, which is positioned just above the trigger. I neverย realized just how great of a feature this was until I used the drill, and I now look for this feature on all cordless products.
The biggest disappointment with this tool had little to do with its performance, but rather in the lack of Lithium-ion batteries. Weย find it curious that manufacturers still insist on supplying newย cordless tools with outdated battery technology. We know the bottomย line is to keep costs down, but we think that the additional benefitsย offered by Lithium-ion (less charging time, no memory,y and better power-to-weight ratio) would be a small price to pay.
For Performance, it did the job it needed to do, but it did so with huge, clunkyย Ni-Cd batteries. This added to the weight and limited the usable life of the tool. For Value, it has some great features like the LED and all-metal chuck on the drill. Despite having Ni-Cad, this kit is still a good value for your hard-earned cash (though we would still encourage you to pony up the extra $50 or so and get the PCL180DRK-2 kit, which comes with Lithium-ion batteries).
